The Alice Band – Maria-Cristina Trepcea

When I was 4 years old my mother tucked me into bed with long golden locks. However, when she rose the next morning she was dismayed to find that in the middle of the night I had taken it upon myself to freshen up my look, by cutting a huge chunk of the front of my hair off. This left me with a need for headbands, particularly those with big embellishments such as bows!

From this point my love for headbands flourished and to this day, I wear one almost everyday! Therefore it was no surprise that from Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf to the Balmain S/S catwalk, headbands have made a big return this season!

One of my favourite headband designers is the little known Maria-Cristina Trepcea. The Romanian born stunner designs mouth-wateringly beautiful headbands, which are each unique! I chased down this innovator to find out what inspires her fabulous work!

Tell us a bit about you:
MCT – I [moved to] London 2 years ago from Bucharest, Romania. I turned 21 a few weeks ago and I have just finished my second year of university where I´m doing a double degree in communication and art, design and media.

What do you design?
MCT – So far my designs (it sounds so pretentious) have included mostly headbands, some hair jewellery, a few necklaces and a pillbox hat, Audrey Hepburn inspired of course.

What fabrics do you work with?
MCT – I work with any fabric I can get, I love satin, silk and taffeta, but I´ve made headbands with ribbon from gift wrapping and shopping bags and I´ve used champagne lids to decorate them.

Who do you see wearing your pieces?
MCT – When I started making the headbands I made them for myself, a few for my very stylish mother and for my friends. I like to think that I design for the modern woman, who has a young heart, a feminine style and the courage to experiment.

How did you get started?
MCT – I made my first headband over Christmas break last year and it was because I didn´t want to buy one that I then thought was over-priced. I like to think that my price range is generally affordable.

How do you think your pieces should be worn?
MCT – I’ve worn headbands with jeans and pearls, with petty coated skirts and elegant dresses. I usually associate headbands with ideas of the retro-chic style.

How do you think your pieces should be worn?
MCT – I’ve sold a few to a sweet little boutique on Portobello Road called, and I have recently made my American debut in a boutique called Downtown Divas.

What are your future plans?
MCT – In the future I hope to become increasingly more productive and imaginative. I hope to expand my design area; I hope to design jewellery and clothes one day.

What are your hopes for your brand?
MCT – I hope that the things I make stimulate people to be creative with their style.

What inspires your pieces?
MCT – The best places to find inspiration are the streets, my mom´s closet and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

What inspires your pieces?
MCT – Different cultures influence my designs in ways that I don´t even realize. I can tell after making something that it has been influenced by something I saw somewhere on my travels.

What are your interests beyond designing?
MCT – Some of my other interests are films, photography and cooking.

Tell us about your personal style?
MCT – I go through phases, I recently went through a retro phase and I only wore fifties inspired outfits with vintage pieces and lace gloves from my great grandmother. Before that it was the hippie phase and now it´s something more eclectic.

Where do you shop?
MCT – I shop everywhere, from vintage shops to high street shops, to boutiques to the fanciest department stores. I don´t think snobbery helps to develop one´s style, I think dressing is about self-expression and there can be no limits to that.

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One comment

I like the hairbands…I feel that there aren’t enough unique hair accessories on the market, and if there are, they are overpriced. This is sort of what also led me to design my own jewelry, since I couldn’t find any that I liked unless it was way over-priced or poor quality for the price it had. So I started making jewelry from vintage pieces and found objects. See http://www.navare.etsy.com. At this point all of my pieces are under $100. So keep moving forward with your form of self-expression! If you love what you design, there are other who will as well.